Buenos Dias a la BSC!
by Poorcollegestudent
Summary: Parody- The Babysitters are going to Mexico! Mallory wants to get "serious" with Ben, Kristy is acting... strange, and the babysitters all must pool thier resources and talents to bail Dawn out of jail!
1. Kristy

_This story was inspired by a dream I had about going to Mexico. I do not own any of the characters in this story, nor do I own Mexico. This is my first published fanfic and I know my grammar isn't so excellent, but I'm trying. I'm not really sure where this story is going so far I'm just kind of playing as I go. Thanks for reading. _

Kristy

"Lets see… sunscreen, visors, bathing suit, shorts…" I said out loud as I packed my suitcase. Where was I going, you ask? Well, tomorrow me and my friends are all leaving for Mexico! All of Stoneybrook Middle School's Spanish classes are going for a week. I couldn't wait to escape blustery Stoneybrook, Connecticut and lay on the beach in hot, sunny, Mexico!

Who am I exactly? I'm Kristy Thomas, 13-year-old girl. I have brown hair and brown eyes, and I'm the shortest person in the 8th Grade. I LOVE sports, but unlike most of my friends I'm not interested in clothes and boys. In the summer time its always shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers. In the winter I'm all about jeans, sweaters and turtlenecks. On special occasions I don't mind dressing up, but its too much of a hassle to do on a regular basis.

I had to finish packing quickly, it was almost five. I had a Babysitters Club meeting at 5:30, and I wasn't about to be late. What's The Babysitters Club? Well, you could say it was my greatest idea ever. And I have a lot of great ideas. Basically we're a business, and our service is babysitting! We meet three times a week and we take calls from clients and set up jobs. We also plan events and have a lot of fun. Like the baby parade, or our summer daycare. And we've also been on a lot of cool trips together. Disneyworld, Hawaii, Europe, California… and that's not even half of the places we've been. Now Mexico! I knew this trip would be quite an adventure.

Before I knew it was 5:10 and time for me to leave. "Charlie! It's time for you to take me to my BSC meeting!" I called to my brother. I have three brothers. Charlie is seventeen, Sam is sixteen, and David Michael is seven. We used to live on the other side of Stoneybrook, and it was only a two minute walk to BSC meetings. But things changed pretty quickly. My mom got remarried to a great guy named Watson, and fortunately for us (emphasis on fortune), Watson was a millionaire! We soon moved out of our too-small house on Bradford Court into Watson's _mansion_ on the ritzy side of Stoneybrook. Watson also has two children of his own, seven-year-old Karen and four-year-old Andrew. Watson and mom also adopted a little girl from Vietnam named Emily Michelle. Having a big family can be tiring sometimes, but we also have my grandmother Nannie living with us to help out.

Charlie was waiting for me downstairs along with Abby Stevenson. I saw Abby's sombrero before I saw her. "Hola Thomas! Que Pasa?" she asked as I walked down the stairs. I sighed, Abby loves to make jokes, but it's not often she's actually funny. Abby and her twin sister Anna moved here from Long Island over the Summer. They live down the street from me with their mother, who is always at work. Abby is loud and loves sports. She has long, thick curly hair and brown eyes. Anna keeps her curly hair cut just past her ears and is quieter. She likes music, and plays violin in the school orchestra. Another difference between Abby and Anna is that Abby has horrible allergies. She can be fine one second and completely stuffed up and sneezing the next second. Anna doesn't have allergies, but she does have scoliosis. Her spine is curved a little, but she's getting better and should be out of her brace in a couple years.

I groaned and pushed Abby towards the door. Abby's jokes can get old after a while, but I think she uses humor to hide how she's really feeling. You see, Abby's father died when she was younger. She doesn't talk about him, or what happened ever.

We all got in the car and started out to Claudia's house. I couldn't wait to see my friends, I knew they would all be excited about the big trip.


	2. Claudia

"Do you think five bathing suits are enough?" I asked looking at my suitcase.

"Probably," my best friend Stacey McGill replied. "I'm bringing five too, and I plan to buy a couple. I hear things are really cheap in Mexico. Are you packing anything fancy? In case we go out to a nice dinner or something?"

"Definitely," I replied. I pulled out my big, full lime green dress. It was a '70s prom dress I had bought at a thrift store over the summer, complete with ruffles and taffeta. I had stuck rhinestones to the front with my hot glue gun and laced hot pink ribbons through the sides. It was totally chilly.

"Cool," Stacey said staring at my dress with wide eyes. I could tell she was envious. Stacey has a great sense of style, but she's into more traditional fashions while I like to mix it up. This is probably because she grew up in New York City! Until last year Stacey's family was living in Manhattan. Then her father's job got moved here, so they packed up and left the exciting city for boring Stoneybrook. But Stacey was more than happy to move. You see, a couple years ago Stacey was diagnosed with a disease called diabetes. Basically it means that her body can't handle certain foods, especially ones with sugar. And she has to give herself shots of a hormone called insulin every day. Many of her NYC friends weren't understanding about her disease. She handles it very well though; I've almost never heard her complain.

With Stacey's looks and sophistication you might think she was 15. She has long beautiful blonde hair which she gets permed regularly so it's thick and fluffy. She has blue eyes, and a figure to die for.

"You can borrow it sometime if you want," I said rolling the dress into my suitcase.

"Maybe, I don't know if I could pull if off the way you could Claud," Stacey said uncertainly.

This was true. I'm known for my crazy outfits, and people always say that while I always look great in what I'm wearing, they would never ever be able to pull it off. I think my exotic looks help. I'm fully Japanese and I have long black hair, which I love to put into crazy styles. I also have smooth almond colored skin, and wide eyes that slant. Luckily I'm tall and thin too. I say "luckily" because I loooove junk food. I eat it all day, but I'm able to keep a good figure and clear skin. Unreal, I know. I have to hide the food in my room though because my parents don't approve of me eating it. They say it'll rot my teeth and my brain, but I think it makes me more creative. Ring Dings and Ho Hos just assist me in my art. I'm not that great in school, in fact I'm a horrible speller and I can't do math to save my life. But I'm a great artist. I love to paint, sculpt, sketch… everything!

It doesn't help that my sister Janine is a real life genius! She's sixteen and already taking college courses. She loves math, and science and loves making me feel stupid. Few people know this, but I'm actually really smart. My IQ is above average, and if I were to just "apply myself" (the way my teachers put it) I would do great in school.

Other club members started arriving as I packed. Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey were first. They're the two youngest members of the club, both eleven years old. They're best friends and they have almost everything in common. They're both the oldest in their family, both love horse stories, and both think that their parents treat them like babies. There are some differences though. Mallory has seven brothers and sisters! Her family is one of the BSC's most frequent charges, we all know the Pike kids pretty well. Mallory hopes one day to be a writer, and spends a lot of time making up characters for her stories. Jessi only has one brother and one sister. Instead of writing, Jessi spends most of her time dancing. She's an amazing ballerina and she can't wait to be a professional. Mallory and Jessi also don't have a lot in common physically. Mallory has thick, curly red hair, glasses, and freckles. She complains a lot about her looks, but we all think that she's an ugly duckling just waiting to become a beautiful swan. Jessi on the other hand is beautiful already, tall, thin and graceful with beautiful dark eyes with long eyelashes. She has black hair that she keeps pulled away from her face in a bun. Oh and I guess I should let you know that she's black. None of us care, but some people can be very closed minded.

"Hola amigos," Jessi said as she entered the room.

"No Jessi, you mean 'amigas' its feminine, we're all girls," Mallory corrected her as they sat on the floor.

"Well, either way I can't wait for tomorrow!" Jessi said laughing.

"Me neither," Mary Anne Spier said as she walked through the door, followed by her step-sister Dawn. I noticed them both eyeing the clock as they walked in, Kristy can be a real Nazi on getting to meetings on time. It was funny that she and Abby were the only ones not there yet.

"I've been to Mexico twice already, it's not that great," Dawn said plopping down on my desk chair.

"Actually Dawn, Mexico City is dripping with culture! The city was built on the ruins of the Aztec capitol, Tenochtitlan. The population of the city grows at a rate of 2 a year…" Mary Ann continued on, but I tuned her out. Boooring.

Mary Anne always gets like this when we go on trips. She studies tour books and brochures for hours picking out the best spots to go to and collecting useless information. It can be helpful sometimes, but usually it's a pain.

I've known Mary Anne my whole life. Until last winter she lived across the street with her father. Mary Anne's mother died when she was younger, and her dad Richard was left to raise her on his own. He wanted so badly to prove that he could do a good job that he was very strict with Mary Anne. She had to keep her hair in two braids, she had to wear skirts, knee socks, sweaters and loafers to school every day, she had to be in bed by 8, and couldn't talk on the phone for more than 10 minutes. Luckily everything changed when Dawn Schafer came along.

Dawn had a pretty happy life growing up in California. That was until her parents got divorced last year. Her dad decided to stay in California and Dawn's mom Sharon decided to come back to Stoneybrook, where she grew up. So Dawn, Sharon, and her brother Jeff all moved in at the beginning of last school year. Jeff decided that Connecticut wasn't for him, and soon moved back to California. Meanwhile Dawn and Mary Anne discovered that their parents had dated in high school, and schemed to get them back together. It worked! Richard and Sharon got married and now they all live together in an old farmhouse on Burnt Hill Road. Well actually Dawn lives with them a few months in the winter, and during the summer. Like her brother, she missed California too much to stay in Stoneybrook.

Mary Anne cut her long brown hair a while ago into a short pixie cut. And instead of knee socks and loafers, she sports trendier clothing, but nothing too risky. She goes for more of an L.L. Bean look. Mary Anne is probably the shyest person I know, and she's very sensitive. Surprisingly though, she's the only member of the BSC with a steady boyfriend! His name is Logan Bruno, he's from Kentucky and he's super cute.

Dawn looks like a typical Californian. She's tall and thin with loooooong blonde hair so pale its almost white. She has blue eyes and is always tanned. We consider Dawn's style to be "California casual". She likes to wear loose-fitting, flowing clothes with flip flops and baggy jeans. She usually just wears her hair hanging down, but sometimes she'll braid some of it or tie it back. Dawn is very concerned with the environment, she doesn't eat meat or a lot of junk food and is concerned with saving the whales and the ozone and all that. I respect her for caring about something so much, but she can be a real pain sometimes.

Kristy and Abby raced in just as the numbers on the clock clicked to 5:30.

"This meeting will now come to order!" Kristy cried taking her usual seat in my director's chair.


	3. Mallory

I couldn't wait to go to Mexico! I returned home from my BSC meeting around 6:15 and after dinner, (I ate by myself. Everyone else had gone out to dinner, I guess they wanted to give me some alone time to pack.) I went up to my room and began looking through my clothes. I wanted to look extra _dibble_ on this trip, and was only packing my coolest stuff. I was excited because my sort-of-boyfriend Ben Hobart would be on the trip. He's eleven and in the 6th grade like me, and he's from Australia! He has the dreamiest accent. Things are getting pretty serious and I'm hoping that during this trip he'll ask me to go steady… and maybe finally give me the kiss I've been waiting for.

It was so nice of my family to send me on this trip. This year I've already been on a cruise to the Bahamas, Disneyworld, and Sea City three times, Europe, California, Hawaii, skiing in Vermont, New York City, and other cool places. Money is a little tight in my house, having eight kids and all but my family always pulls together to send me on fabulous trips! My mom says they'll do anything to get me out of the house. I'm so glad they want me to be cultured.

I was just about done packing when I remembered the extra special thing I had bought for the trip. I dug under my bed looking for it. Aha! There it was, still in the bag from the store. My first bikini. It was simple, white bottoms and a white halter bikini top. I got white because it blended in perfectly with my pasty pale skin and would create the illusion of nudity. Ben wouldn't be able to resist. The only problem was I didn't really have anything to fill the top out with, naturally at least. Thank God for toilet paper, I'd just have to keep the top half of my body out of the water.

"Mallory the news of your trip makes me want to flip, I can't wait for you to leave so I can finally breathe!" My sister Vanessa said dancing into our room. Vanessa is nine and wants to be a poet when she grows up, so she says everything in rhyme.

"I'm excited too, but I'm sure gonna miss all of you guys," I said zipping up my suitcase.

"We'll miss you too, like someone misses the flu," Vanessa said walking towards my bed. I knew she was joking.

"Let me help me with your bag, so we can get rid of you, hag," Vanessa said grabbing my bag and heading out the door. How nice of her.

"Ooo let me help!" My ten year old brother Byron said coming to Vanessa's aid.

"You guys are all so sweet," I said watching them skip merrily down the stairs, my suitcase in hands.

I decided to take these moments of solitude to write in my journal. I always keep a journal on every trip I go on; sometimes I make my friends write in it too.

_Dear Journal,_

_Tomorrow I leave for another exciting trip. This time I will be vacationing in Mexico City, Mexico. I know this trip will be just as dibble as all the others, and I can't wait! Maybe my beloved Ben will want to sit next to me on the plane, I won't let him though, a girl has to play hard-to-get sometimes. Well, more tomorrow._


	4. Stacey

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story. I'm having a lot of fun writing it, and I'm actually almost finished with it. It is sort of a parody, because who doesn't love making fun of BSC characters? Here is the next chapter, enjoy!_

"Stacey, wake up we're leaving for the airport in an hour," I heard my mom yell to me from down the stairs early Saturday morning.

Yesss! Finally this day had come. I go on a lot of trips, but it had been at least a month since I had been anywhere. I couldn't wait. I jumped out of bed, got in the shower and got dressed. Today I wore a black low cut halter top with a short denim miniskirt. I put on knee-high black leather boots, and a thick silver necklace and silver bangles. I made sure to lay out a black shrug in case it got chilly on the plane. Stylish, yet comfortable for flight.

I put on some makeup, and blow dried my hair, making sure it was extra fluffy. I had just gotten it permed two days before. I wanted it to be extra thick and curly for Mexico. I then tested my blood sugar and did my insulin shot before packing away my diabetes kit into one of my four suitcases. All ready.

My mom helped me get my bags into our station wagon and we were ready to go. Actually we had to wait for Mallory, she lives next door. I watched as she walked out her back door waving and smiling towards the house. "Goodbye everyone, I'll miss you!" she yelled waving inside the still open door.

"Yeah us too," I heard Mr. Pike say quickly as he shoved Mallory's suitcase into her arms and slammed the door shut. I couldn't help but roll my eyes as she skipped across her back lawn smiling at me. She can be_ such_ a little girl sometimes.

"Wow Stacey, you look great!" She exclaimed approaching the car.

"Yeah thanks," I said flipping my thick blonde hair over one shoulder. I couldn't return the compliment, Mallory looked frumpy as usual. She was wearing a light blue sweatshirt with two horses running across the front over the words "pony pals", dark blue jeans, and black Keds. She had pulled her thick red hair into _pigtails._ Don't get me wrong, pigtails are okay if you're going for the sexy school girl look, but Mallory obviously wasn't.

We all got into the car and started off towards the airport. As we passed Mallory's house I'm pretty sure I heard Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" blasting from inside. Lucky them. After about forty minutes of driving we arrived at the airport. My mom pulled into the 10-minute drop of area and we started to unload our (well mostly my) bags. I hugged Mom goodbye, promised her I'd test myself every day and wouldn't forget my shots, and walked into the terminal with Mallory. Immediately I noticed Claudia, it was almost impossible not to. First she had just as many bags as I did, and then there was her outfit.

She was wearing a big full off-the shoulder dress. It had a long skirt that must've had at least five layers. It was red and ruffled, and it looked like she had poured glitter all over it. Her hair was in two braids on either side of her head. Her makeup was the most interesting though. She had taken a black eyeliner pencil and sketched a moustache over her lip. Then she had drawn a black circle near her lip, supposed to be a mole I guess. Then she had drawn a line connecting her eyebrows together. Wow.

"Wow Claud, great outfit," I said as I approached her.

"Thanks," she replied. "It's my homage to Frida Kahlo"

Our other friends soon joined us. Mary Anne was spewing off facts about Mexico City, Dawn was complaining about the amount of pollution planes produce, Mallory and Jessi had produced plastic pony toys and were running them across the air neighing, while Abby was flipping through a book full of jokes in Spanish.

Breaking our chatter, Kristy stood up on a chair and waved her arms. We didn't pay her any attention, mostly because we were embarrassed. I didn't think it could get any worse until I heard a whistle blow. Ugh, how did she get that through security? Everyone turned to look at her, and I do mean everyone.

"Attention BSC members! We're all sitting in Row F of the plane. I call one window seat, discuss among yourselves who gets the other. When we get in Mexico, meet by the baggage claim for an emergency BSC meeting! That is all," She barked at us while everyone watched. I was mortified, looking at my friends I could see I wasn't the only one. I also noticed the rest of our classmates snickering and whispering to each other. I could kill Kristy Thomas sometimes, but I wasn't about to let her ruin this trip. Mexico here we come!


	5. Jessi

_Whoops, long time no update. Finals are a beast what can I say. Heres 4 new chapters to make up for it. _

We all boarded the plane and got into our seats, Row F like Kristy had ordered. It was annoying having to listen to her all the time, but we were all too afraid of her wrath to do anything about it. The seating order went like this. Kristy and Abby said in the first row of two seats. Then Logan, Mary Anne, Dawn, Claudia and Stacey sat in the middle row of five. Then it was me and Mallory in the next row of two, me by the window.

Drinks were served after liftoff, Mallory and I got ginger ale and started talking excitedly about our trip.

"Mexico is going to be soooo _dibble_," I said taking a sip. "I can't wait to go to the beach!"

"Me neither," said Mallory. I noticed her shoot a glance over her shoulder towards Ben Hobart, her sort-of- boyfriend. He didn't notice though, he was busy reading a comic book. "I've got something extra special for that," she said smiling deviously.

"What?" I asked leaning towards her. "Tell meee".

"Well… ok but don't tell anyone else," she said. "I want to unveil myself and surprise everyone".

"You're not dyeing your hair again, are you?" I asked nervously thinking about the fiasco in California. Mallory decided that being blonde would help her fit in, and make her look more mature. She also spent all of her money on makeup too. She looked ridiculous, and I had to loan her money to bail her out.

"No, no, my hair was meant to be red," Mallory said quickly. "I bought a… bikini!" she said giggling.

My jaw dropped. "Mallory Pike!" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"What?" she asked innocently. "My parents won't know, and it looks really good. It's a white halter…"

"White!" I exclaimed again. Maybe someone with beautiful dark skin such as mine could pull of a white suit, but Mallory would look like a freckled ghost in it.

"It looks sexy," Mallory said pointedly. "It's gonna turn Ben from my sort-of-boyfriend to my steady love".

"Well ok if you say so, but, um… how are you going to fill out the top?" I asked. Mallory's chest was as flat as a 10-year-old boy's. Mine wasn't much better, but I was starting to grow in a little.

"Well, I was thinking toilet paper…" Mallory began.

"Duh Mallory, just get some chicken cutlets," Stacey said from across the aisle. I guess she had overheard our conversation.

"Chicken cutlets?" Mallory and I asked in unison.

"Yeah you stick 'em in and it makes it look like you have more than what you actually _do _have. Which in your case I guess would be nothing. Toilet paper looks too lumpy and it's _the beach_, once you get wet they'll sag," Stacey explained. She flipped her hair as she turned away from us and went back to reading her issue of _Cosmopolitan._

"Hmm, chicken cutlets," Mallory said thoughtfully, adjusting her glasses. "That sounds just like what I need".

I sighed and looked out the window. This was going to be a long interesting trip.


	6. Dawn

_Dear Sunny,_

_Hey how are you? So far I'm doing well, our flight to Mexico was extremely long and boring. The in-flight movie was horrible and Kristy won't stop bossing us around. And the stupid airline messed up my vegetarian meal! And don't get me started on Mary Anne…_

After seven hours of flight we finally landed in Mexico City. I fly a lot between California and Stoneybrook, so I'm used to it. I'm not used to sitting next to a sobbing Mary Anne for 5 hours though. You see, the flight started off okay, until Mary Anne asked Logan where he wanted to go that night. She wanted him to hang out with her and the BSC, but Logan wanted to spend some time with his friends. I couldn't blame him, who would want to constantly be the only guy in a group? So, Mary Anne spent the next five hours wailing and crying into my shoulder. Yuck.

I was so happy to get off that plane. I can't even count how many times I've been on planes between traveling from coast to coast and going on vacations. I just wish the airlines would be more fuel efficient. Electric cars are pretty popular in California, my friend Maggie's father has one. So, electric planes aren't that outlandish right? I made a mental note to write to the airline.

As Kristy instructed we all met by the baggage claim after picking up our bags. I noticed Stacey kept glancing around nervously. If she was feeling the same way I was, she was probably embarrassed.

Kristy had laid down one of Claudia's giant suitcases, and was using it as a platform. "Okay guys," she said, clapping her hands together. "We're here!"

"Duh," I heard Stacey say under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Good thing Kristy didn't hear her. "Now we have to make sure that we represent the BSC internationally in a positive light. So I've got a present for you guys". Kristy reached into her knapsack and pulled out a clear plastic shopping bag. She opened up the bag and pulled out a white t-shirt. On the front it said her name, "Kristy". On the back it said "Un miembro orgulloso de La Baby-Sitter's Club". Translated, it means "A proud member of the Baby-Sitter's Club".

"And I've got one for each of you, with your names on it," Kristy said digging through the bag. We all exchanged glances while Kristy handed us each our own shirt. "You are to wear them at all times, and if anyone asks you about the club make sure you tell them about us".

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Thomas!" Abby exclaimed. "You want us to wear these things _all the time! _ You must be joking!"

Kristy shot her a look so evil I'm still surprised that Abby is alive today.

"No, Abby is right Kristy," Stacey began. "It was a nice thought, but who in _Mexico _will ever need the BSC. I'm not wearing this."

We all nodded and murmured in agreement.

"Fine," Kristy said, snatching up the shirts. "Well I'm glad one of us still cares about the club." With that she threw on her custom shirt and stalked off. The rest of us looked at each other shaking our heads. I swear something is wrong with that girl sometimes.

Two large shuttle buses transported us from the airport to our hotel. It was a large classy looking building right on the beach. Many of the rooms had their own balconies, and the hotel had its own indoor/outdoor pool. I had stayed at better places, but this was okay.

Unfortunately I had to room with Kristy and Mary Anne. I knew Kristy would be grumpy, and Mary Anne and I don't do well together in the same room. And plus I knew she would be jamming tour pamphlets down my throat all week. Plus, she was still sniffling from her fight with Logan. This was going to be interesting.

Claudia, Stacey, and Abby were all in the room next door to us. Mallory and Jessi were in a room with another 6th Grader, Morgan Hudson, two floors below us.

Kristy had been ignoring us all ever since we had refused to wear her t-shirts. She walked past Mary Anne and me silently with her nose in the air. Mary Anne and I exchanged glances.

"Listen Kristy, don't let this silly t-shirt thing ruin our vacation," Mary Anne said meekly.

"No its fine I don't care," Kristy said unpacking her bag.

"Ok, good," I said. "Anyone else hungry?"

"I know I am," Mary Anne said. "Kristy?"

"Yeah, me too," Kristy replied standing up.

"Good," Mary Anne said. "I can't wait to taste some authentic Mexican cuisine. I bet they're serving lunch right now down in the dining room. We should get everyone together. Did you know that there are two types of tortilla? There are corn tortillas…"

Kristy and I groaned pushing Mary Anne towards the door. Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad.


	7. Mary Anne

_Dear Dad and Sharon,_

_Wow Mexico is great! Our flight was really long, but we're finally here. Today we decided to go exploring around the city. We discovered some really amazing museums, an open air market, and a really cool shopping district. The weather is beautiful and the people are great! Wish you were here! _

_Love, _

_Mary Anne_

_P.S. _

_Hug Tigger for me please!_

I had lied a little in the postcard. My vacation in Mexico was off to a pretty stale start.

After dinner we decided to split into two groups. I was with Stacey, Claudia, and Mallory. We left the hotel around 5 and went east. At first the scene was beautiful, we walked into an area called La Zona Rosa, and there were flowers everywhere! It was so romantic I wished that Logan was there with me, but he had decided to spend our first day in Mexico with _his _friends. Our first night in a romantic new city and he was out with Alan Gray and Pete Black. I had cried for two hours when he told me that he wasn't going to spend time with me and my friends, but deep down I know that time apart will bring us close together. I just hope he didn't meet any beautiful Mexican girls. I mean he does look just like Cam Geary, the movie star. What girl could resist?

"Wow everything is pink! I love it," Stacey said as we strolled down the street.

"Ooo! A shopping area," Claudia exclaimed, pointing ahead.

"Yeah, that must be Reforma Avenue. It's the main commercial and financial axis of the city. Along with here, La Zona Rosa and the Historical Centre", I said, remembering some things I had read earlier.

"Lets browse," Mallory said. "I want to grab some um, fruit for later tonight."

"Well I want to look at clothes," Claudia said. "Me and Stacey will be by the clothing vendors. Why don't you go with Mal, Mary Anne?"

I nodded and we parted our separate ways. Maybe there would be some crafts in this area. I'm really into knitting.

Mallory and I walked into an open market. Vendors were yelling everywhere and it was hard to hear yourself think over the din.

"What do you want fruit for?" I asked looking at Mallory. Normally she would have jumped at the chance to go shopping with Stacey and Claudia, or at least she'd want to check out the stuffed animals or something. But fruit?

"Actually I don't need fruit. I need two chicken breasts," Mallory said blushing a big.

"Chicken breasts? Whatever for?"

"Well, Stacey said I could fill out my top a little if I put chicken cutlets in it. It's a little embarrassing, but I want Ben to notice me," Mallory replied looking down at her feet.

"Well okay, but Ben already likes you for who you are. He won't care what's in your top. If its really what you want though…" I said shrugging. I had no idea what she was talking about, but if Stacey said it, it must be true. She knows a lot about that kind of stuff because she reads magazines like _Cosmo _and _Glamour._ I'm not allowed to read those until I'm married. She's sooo sophisticated.

We walked over to a poultry vendor. He had dead fish and chickens hanging upside down all around his stand. Good thing Dawn wasn't here. I was feeling a little green myself as I looked at the chicken feet and beaks for sale. Yuck.

With some difficulty, Mallory was able to get the two chicken cutlets. Neither she nor I knew the Spanish word for "breast" so she had to use her own body to show him what she was talking about. It was soo embarrassing.

We walked away from the stand, Mallory, pink cheeked, shoving the brown paper bag into her purse.

"Lets go find Claud and Stace," I said. We didn't need anything else in the food section, and I was interested in the clothing area myself.

Mallory and I navigated our way through the crowd, me gripping her wrist the whole way. There was no way I was getting lost on my own. Even though, it probably wouldn't have been that hard to find her. She was the only white redhead I'd seen all day.

We found Stacey and Claudia ten minutes later browsing through bathing suits. Well, if you could even call them that…

"What do you think?" Stacey asked holding up two bikini pieces.

My eyes almost popped right out of my head. Stacey was holding a sparkly blue thong and an itty-bitty matching top.

"Stacey McGill you can't be serious!" I said in disbelief.

"No, I am. I think it matches my eyes well," Stacey replied defiantly.

"But it's barely… anything!" I still couldn't believe she was actually planning to wear that!

"Skimpier the better, that's what's in this year. Who are you? My father?" Stacey said, giving me an icy stare. "Besides Claudia already bought two."

"Whaat!" I said my jaw dropping.

"Yeah one in red and another in green," Claudia piped up from behind a rack of bikini bottoms. "I was thinking of putting some Spanish words on the material, like 'caliente' or something."

"Oh, like theres room for that," I said sarcastically.

"You're right; maybe I should use water proof markers and write on my skin. I could fit more phrases on my body anyways," Claudia said eyes widening.

I sighed; it was no use arguing with these two. Stacey was too hard-headed and Claudia was too dumb too convince.

"Hey guys, its getting late," Mallory said trying to break the tension. "We should probably be heading back if we want to get there by 8."

Stacey nodded and strutted over to the vendor with the "bikini" in hand. She paid, and we were ready to go.

We walked in silence for a while. The sun was beginning to set, and I noticed a lot of the vendors beginning to close up shop.

"So, how were the fruits?" Claudia asked, after about ten minutes of walking.

Mallory's head popped up and she clutched her purse nervously. "G-good," she said, staring in a different direction. "But not great, you know? You know…" she trailed off.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. Twenty minutes later we were back at the hotel. I could already see Kristy, Dawn, Jessi, and Abby sitting on the steps.

"Hey!" Kristy yelled, waving. "What'd ya see?"

"The town centre, the shopping district…" I said breathlessly. All of a sudden I wasn't feeling so well.

"Well the beach is amazing," Kristy said grinning. "You're gonna love the boardwalk."

"And we saw a bunch of museums in the city, and some really beautiful cathedrals," Abby added.

"Hey, Mary Anne, are you feeling okay?" Jessi asked walking towards me. Within seconds my friends were all crowded around me glancing me up and down.

"Uh-oh," Stacey said, poking my arm. "We've seen this before."

"Seen what?" Abby asked.

"Mary Anne! Did you forget to put on sunscreen!" Dawn asked in disbelief. "You know you burn easily!"

Oh man. In all the excitement with arriving in Mexico, BSC t-shirts, the drama with Logan… I had forgotten to apply my SPF 85. And I had gone out in the blazing hot sun without a baseball cap, and with uncovered skin. What was I thinking?

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess I did. There was just so much else to think about. I just want to go to bed now," I said walking up the stairs to the hotel doors.

"We'll get you some aloe," Kristy said. "Maybe a cold bath too?"

"Sure."


	8. Claudia

_Durr Janeene,_

_Hi! Who ar yoo? I'm greht! Meksickow is sooo butiful! I luhve it. Yesturday we did a bit of shoping. I got too rilly cool beekeeneez. Staycee got one too. Tooday we went to the beech to showe them off. I'm rilly excitud becauz tomorroe I get to go the art museeams! Did yoo knoe taht Deeago Reevera and Freeda Callo were marreed? Maybee I'll meat a romantik ardist hear fore myseulf. Mure latur!_

_Weesh yoo wur hear!_

_Luhve, _

_Clawdeeyah_

Mexico is soo dibble! I love everything about it. The food, the weather, the shopping, the museums, everything! Today Stacey and I couldn't wait to go to the beach. Our new bikinis were extra dibble, no matter what Mary Anne thought. Stace, Mallory, Kristy, and I all wanted to go to the beach. Dawn said the beach in Mexico was nothing compared to the one in California, so she decided to go shopping with Abby and Jessi. Poor Mary Anne was stuck in her room all day. She was red as a tomato, and her skin was flaking all over. It hurt just looking at her.

Stacey called Kristy and Mal and we made plans meet in the dining room at 10am for breakfast, then we'd head out to the beach. Abby was up and out early, giving me and Stace plenty of time to spread out and get ready.

First I packed my beach bag while Stacey was in the shower. Baby oil, a sketch pad, pastels, candy bars, three cans of soda, and a beach towel. Then I began to put together an outfit to go over my bikini. I decided on a pinstriped man's vest and white faux fur short shorts with platform flip flops.

After my shower I rubbed glittery lotion all over my body and put on my new red bikini. I divided my hair into cornrows and sprayed them with glitter hairspray. I was sparkly all over. Then I remembered the idea I had from the day before, to write on my body. It took some flexibility, and a mirror, but I was able to get it done. I took a red permanent marker and wrote "moye" on my left butt cheek, and "callyentay" on my right check. I then drew a maraca on either side of my stomach. Perfect. I put on the rest of my outfit and walked back into our room.

Stacey was already dressed too. She was wearing an old plaid man's shirt, which she had tied up to expose her stomach. She was also wearing a jean micro mini-skirt so short it didn't even cover her bottom all the way.

"Wow Stace, you look great!" I said as she puffed out her hair in the mirror.

"Thanks, you too Claud! I just need to apply my makeup and we can go."

Hmm, I hadn't thought about wearing makeup that was a good idea. Stacey and I crowded in front of the mirror putting on waterproof mascara and eyeliner. After some cream rouge and a lipstick we were ready.

We met Kristy and Mal down in the dining room. We were only five minutes late, a new record for us.

"Hey!" I said waving as I approached them.

Kristy's eyes widened as she looked us up and down. "You guys look great today," she said, licking her lips. "Wow."

Kristy was just wearing her basic shorts and t-shirt combo. She had her hair back in a ponytail and was wearing black flip flops. Mallory had tried a little harder. She was wearing a pair of blue overall shorts over a white t-shirt. I could see a pony's head peeping out from over the bib of her overalls. Her curly red hair was still wet from her shower, and hung in a loose clumped frizzy ball. And she wasn't wearing her glasses.

"Did you get contacts?" I asked her as we walked towards the buffet.

"No," she replied. "I just didn't want to lose my glasses at the beach. I don't need them anyways."

I exchanged glances with Stacey and shrugged. We all knew Mallory was legally blind without her glasses, who was she trying to fool? We filled our plates up and found a table.

"Hey Mal look, it's Ben!" Stacey said pointing to a table behind us.

"You should go say 'hi'," I said, nudging Mallory towards Ben's table.

"Well…ok," Mallory said nervously.

We all watched as she inched towards Ben's table. He was sitting with a group of other sixth grade boys I wasn't familiar with.

"Hey Ben," Mallory said in a flirty tone.

"Oh, hey Mal," he said, looking up from his breakfast. "Are you having a bonza time in Mexico mate?"

"Oh yes, totally _bonza_," Mallory said. She smiled and then attempted to flip her hair over one shoulder, but her fingers just got caught in the clump and she ended up spraying one of Ben's friends in the face with her wet hair. Luckily she didn't notice, she probably would have died on the spot.

"So, I'm going to the beach today, if you want to come," Mallory said still smiling, trying to loosen her fingers from her hair's grip. "I know it's probably not as great as what you're used to in Australia, but I know we could have a _bonza _time."

"Oh, um… well sure, I bet it'll be great. I'll meet you out there in about an hour?" Ben agreed. How cute.

"Ok, see you then." Mallory giggled coyly as she walked away. I guess she was so happy she forgot about her surroundings. She walked right into an empty table and did a complete face plant into the table cloth.

"Whoops, how did that get there?" Mallory said, straightening herself up. The boys at Ben's tabled snickered as she made her way back to our table.

We pretended we hadn't noticed anything and finished our breakfast. After we were done we grabbed our beach bags and headed out towards the beach. I made sure to gently nudge Mallory occasionally before she could trip over or walk into anything else.

It was a perfect beach day, about 95 degrees and sunny. The water was sparkling blue, and the sand was a perfect white. We found a spot and laid our towels down. I sat down on my towel and pulled my baby oil and a soda out of my bag. It had been almost five minutes since I had ingested sugar, I needed to replenish my craving. I looked over and saw that Stacey was already peeling off her clothes. Mallory and Kristy stared wide eyed while Stacey untied her top and took off her skirt.

"Hey Stacey, let me rub some suntan lotion on you," Kristy said producing a bottle of SPF 35 from her bag. "Don't want you ending up like Mary Anne."

"Nah, I wanna be as tan as possible," Stacey said, throwing her clothes into her bag. "It'd be nice if you could rub some baby oil on my back though."

"Sure!" Kristy replied scurrying over to Stacey's side. Stacey produced her own bottle of baby oil from her beach bag and lay down on her towel. Kristy grinned and began slowly massaging the oil into Stacey's back. It was good to see the two of them getting along for once.

I looked over at Mallory and noticed that she was still fully clothed.

"Hey Mal, why aren't you in your bathing suit yet?" I asked, undoing the buttons of my vest.

"Oh, I'm just waiting for Ben," she said. "You know, I want to be sexy and stuff."

"Oh," I replied peeling off my fur shorts. "Hey Kristy, when you're done with Stacey would you mind doing me?"

"Oh no problem!" she replied. "I'm about done here anyways," she said giving Stacey a little slap on the butt. That girl spends too much time playing sports, I swear.

I then lay down and let Kristy rub the oil onto my back. It was unusual for her to be this nice, better take advantage of it while I could.

"Oh, hey Ben," I heard Stacey say. I looked over to see Ben Hobart approaching us wearing a white t-shirt and Hawaiian print surf shorts. He had two of his 6th Grade friends him. They must have been really glad to see us, because they dropped their towels and stared the second they saw us.

Mallory stood up, swaying a little. "Hey Ben," she said giggling. "I was waiting for you."

"Well, here we are," Ben replied, laying down a towel. "I brought Jack and Sam. Are you ready to get in the water?"

"Yes, yes I am," Mallory said. There was some nervousness in her voice.

Ben nodded and smiled. "You guys coming?" he asked, looking over to his friends.

"Well, if everyone else is," one of his friends, Sam I think, said looking at me, Kristy, and Stace.

"Yeah, I'm ready for a swim," I said, moving to get up. Kristy must've been done oiling my back by now. She was massaging my back so hard it was starting to hurt.

"Alright then!" Ben said. With that he and his friends began removing their shirts and applying sunscreen.

I looked over at Mallory. She was starting undo one of the buckles on her overalls. Within moments she had removed all of her clothes. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Mallory was in a bikini. A white bikini. Her white skin blended right in with the tone, and it was hard to pick out what was her and what wasn't. Something else was different too.

Mallory had boobs.


	9. Stacey

_Dear Mom,_

_Hi! Mexico is great! I hope everything is going well for you in Stoneybrook. If not, I'm sure I have a story that will brighten up your day. You'll never believe the way Mallory embarrassed herself at the beach today. Maybe it was slightly my fault, but it was still hilarious…_

It was a perfect day to go to the beach and things were going great. I had dumped almost a whole bottle of Sun-In into my hair, I was baking in the sun, and I looked hot. I noticed men whistling at me and Claud as we walked around the beach. They would wink at us and say things like "Ay Mami, cuanto cuesta?". I'm not sure what they meant by that, I think they probably wanted to take us out to dinner or something. Mexican people are very generous.

Things got _really_ interesting though after Ben and his friends arrived. I could tell they were also impressed by Claudia's and my swimwear, because they wouldn't stop staring at us. But the real star of our group turned out to be Mallory.

She removed her overalls and pony t-shirt to reveal her hot and sexy bikini. I'm being sarcastic of course. She was as pale as a sheet, freckles everywhere. And her chest was all lumpy looking. I wanted to burst out laughing the second I saw her, but I restrained myself. After we were all in our swimsuits we all decided to go down to the water for a swim.

I pulled Mallory aside and let the others get ahead.

"What on Earth have you stuffed into your bikini top?" I hissed at her.

"Chicken cutlets, like you said," Mallory replied, looking down and adjusting her top a bit. "Do they look okay?"

I stared at her chest for a moment. "Mallory… where did you get your cutlets?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"The open air market, yesterday," she replied. "Where else would I get chicken cutlets silly?"

I groaned. "Mallory! Chicken cutlets… I didn't mean real chicken! It's just what they're called. They're made out of some soft silicone or something!"

"Oh no!" Malloy replied, her face turning red. "Well I don't look stupid or anything, do I?"

I looked at her for a minute. She looked absolutely ridiculous, but Mallory is _really_ sensitive. I couldn't tell her the truth, I mean it didn't look _that _bad.

"Mal… You look fine, ok? But just be careful", I said, nudging her in front of me. "Now, go get your man!"

Mallory smiled and ran down the beach to the water where everyone else was. I sighed thinking about how young and innocent she was, and hoped today wouldn't be _too_ embarrassing for her. The future looked bleak as I watched her trip over a sandcastle near the shore. I shook my head and went down to meet the others.

We had a lot of fun splashing around. I didn't want to really get my hair or makeup wet so I just waded a bit with Claud. Kristy and Ben raced each other a few times, and Ben's friends just sort of stood chest deep in the water watching me and Claud and moving their arms really fast under the water.

Mallory cheered for Ben while he raced Kristy, and raced him a couple times himself. After their last race I noticed something about her bathing suit. "_Oh God",_ I thought.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the group. "Mallory… Um, I think you should lay in the sun with me for a while", I said to her cautiously.

"Why?" she asked.

"Just trust me on this," I said as I guided her out of the water. "Mal and I are gonna do some suntanning!" I yelled back to the group.

"Okay, see ya sexy!" Kristy yelled from the water. What the hell?

Here's a fashion tip for all of you readers, never wear a white bikini. NEVER. Unless it's double lined or something. The water had soaked through Mallory's suit and all of what she had, or I guess all of what she _didn't _have was now visible to the world. I mean, I'm comfortable enough with my own body to do that, but I know Mallory would be _mortified_ if she knew. Especially since you could clearly see two pink chicken cuts through her top.

The day was getting hotter and hotter. I wished I was still in the water, but it was sort of my fault Mallory was in this situation so I had to help her out. We laid in the 100 degree plus weather, I read through an issue of _Cosmo_ and Mallory read a few chapters in the latest _Pony Pals_ book. I winked at boys as they walked by, flipping my fluffy blonde hair over one shoulder nonchalantly.

Around noontime the rest of the group came back to us on the beach.

"How's that book?" Ben asked, sitting next to Mallory.

"Oh, um, it's totally bonza!" Mallory said, sitting up on her towel. "How was the water?"

"It was great," Ben answered. "We're all starting to get hungry now, we were thinking we'd get some food from one of the taco trucks," Ben informed her. "Wait a minute… do you smell chicken?"

I shot a look over at Mallory, who was turning bright red.

"Um, no," Mallory said, blushing. "Do you?"

"Yeah I smell it too," Kristy said. "That's funny I don't see anyone cooking anything anywhere near here."

I looked over at Mallory's chest and noticed a little steam coming out of it. Of course, it was over 100 degrees and we had been lying right in the sun for at least an hour. Mallory's boobs were cooking!

Before anyone could make another mention of the chicken, things went from bad to worse. A medium sized, scruffy looking dog came out of nowhere and started tearing at Mallory's bikini top! Ben tried to pull him off, but he only made it worse. Much, much worse. Ben pulled away the dog from Mallory, along with Mallory's bikini top. I watched it fall onto her towel, and the pieces of partially-cooked chicken flopped out. The dog collected a piece in its mouth and ran as we all stared wide-eyed. Mallory let out the most horrific scream I've ever heard and covered her chest quickly with her arms. Not that there was anything to cover. Her scream only attracted more onlookers, who all stared with the same disbelief as our group.

"Um, Mallory?" Ben said, not knowing what to say.

I grabbed Mallory's pony t-shirt and shoved it in front of her chest.

"I think you guys should go," I said, looking at Ben and his friends.

"Right," Ben said, quickly standing up and grabbing his towel. He and his friends practically ran away.

"What the hell are you all staring at!" Kristy barked to the onlookers. None of them were intimidated, but they had lost interest anyway.

Claud and I crowded Mallory as she quickly put on her t-shirt in silence. No one knew what to say. So I just did what came naturally.

I laughed. I laughed my ass off. I mean, how could I not? She put chicken into her top and a dog ran away with it! Claudia soon joined in, then Kristy. We all rolled around hysterically for about ten minutes, and then tried our best to control ourselves.

I looked up to see Mallory sitting on her towel glaring at us with her arms crossed.

"Aww come on Mallory", I said giggling still. "I mean, I know you're mortified, but _that_ was freakin hilarious!"

Mallory narrowed her eyes and stood up, grabbing her bag. Silently, she took her towel and stalked off. What a sour puss.

As I walked Mallory walk back towards the hotel, and walk right smack into a vendor, I wondered if we were wrong for laughing at her.

I looked at my friends and I knew the answer as we clutched our sides and howled with laughter.


	10. Abby

Whoops so I lied about that "new chapter tomorrow" comment. Well, here you are anyways, two new chapters. Thanks to EVERYONE who has reviewed my story. I love any type of reinforcement, so keep 'em comin. I'll try to get a chapter or two up by the end of the week, but no guarantees. And Arwen, if you wanna use the chicken cutlet part in your story go ahead. Thanks for asking. And now, enjoy!

_Dear Anna, _

_Hola, Buenos dias? So far Mexico has been great, and I'm getting you and mom plenty of great souvenirs. Today was pretty exciting, although, I don't know if we'll be seeing Dawn for a while…_

"What do you think?" I asked Jessi, holding up a silk Mexican print dress to my body. "Do you think Anna would like it?"

"Hmm," Jessi said thoughtfully, thumbing the material. "Well, I think…"

"Ewww do you guys know how they make silk!" Dawn shrieked from behind Jessi. She walked over and snatched the dress out of my hands.

"Hey!" I said, reaching back for the dress. "I don't care how silk is made; I think my sister would like it."

"Oh why don't you go eat a steak!" Dawn said pointedly, like that was an insult. She threw the dress back at me and stalked off.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked, looking at Jessi.

"You don't know Dawn like the rest of us do. She can get a little crazy when it comes to matters of animals and the environment", Jessi explained.

"Well whatever," I said. "I'm getting this dress!"

"Alright, I think I'm gonna buy some of these beads for my hair," Jessi said, holding up a gigantic bag of colorful beads.

"Beads?" I asked.

"You know, I need to represent for my people," Jessi replied, shoving the bag under her arm.

"New Jersey residents?" I asked her quizzically. I didn't know they wore beads in Jersey.

"Nooooo, you know, my strong African roots!" Jessi exclaimed, digging some money out of her pockets.

"Ohhhhhhhhh. Right. Hey I'm Jewish you know!" I said, reaching for my purse.

"Right, right, I know," Jessi said.

We both paid for our purchases and decided to keep looking around.

"You know, Mexico isn't as bad as I thought it would be," I said, as we strolled through the marked.

"Oh?" asked Jessi.

"Yeah, you always hear about how it's full of poor dirty people and everyone steals and all that," I explained.

"Hmm, I know what you mean," Jessi said thoughtfully. "People say the same thing about Jersey, but it's not true."

"Yeah, we all know that's not true about New Jersey," I said. Luckily Jessi didn't hear the sarcasm in my voice. "Hey! Theres Dawn!" I said, pointing ahead.

We looked up ahead to see Dawn in what seemed to be a heated argument. She was standing in front of a butcher's stand pointing angrily and stamping her feet.

"Uh oh," Jessi said as we approached. "Dawn's found a _cause."_

"End the evil! Stop killing animals!" I could hear Dawn shriek as we got closer. A crowd of people had formed around her, eying her quizzically.

Dawn got up on the vendor's stand and started jumping up and down. "Meat is murder! Meat is murder!" she yelled, pumping one fist in the air. She was obviously trying to get a rally going, but I don't think anyone was on her side here.

Noticing no one was supporting her, Dawn began to get angry. I watched as she grabbed a dead chicken from the meat rack and started clubbing the butcher with it.

"Oh…my… god…" Jessi said, her eyes wide with horror.

"Just pretend you don't know her," I said, ducking my head a little.

Poor, poor, passionately, environment-loving, ignorant Dawn. Four Mexican police officers soon appeared and toted her away. She kicked, flailed and screamed as they dragged her into the paddy wagon, "Viva la resistance!" she yelled before they shut the doors.

"So," I said, looking at Jessi. "How are we gonna explain this to the others?"

"They'll probably be happy they won't have to deal with her for the rest of the trip," Jessi said, nodding her head up and down.

"I know I am," I said, as the crowd began to break up. "Come on, lets get back to the hotel before someone finds out we know her."

When we got back to the hotel, the first person we saw was Mallory. She was sitting on the bench in a lobby looking miserable.

"Hey Mal, what's up," Jessi asked, as we approached her.

"Oh, Jessi? Is that tall brown blob you?" Mallory said, squinting at us.

"Yeah, Mal, where are your glasses?"

"I'll explain it all later. Right now I just want to lie down for a while, but I couldn't get up to our room because I couldn't read the buttons on the elevator", Mallory sheepishly explained.

"Well okay, you'll never believe the day we had either Mal," Jessi said, taking Mallory's arm and guiding her towards the elevator.

"Where are the others?" I asked. "We've got really big news, like emergency BSC meeting news."

"Oh, how the hell would I know?" Mallory said defensively. "Probably somewhere being horrible friends."

Jessi and I exchanged confused glances.

"Um, okay. Sorry I asked," I said. "_Achoo!_" I sneezed. "Ugh, allerdees," I said, wiping my nose on my arm.

"That's weird, what could've triggered it?" Jessi asked, looking around the elevator. It was pretty sterile, glass walls, linoleum floor.

"I dunno," I said, shrugging. "_Achoo!_" I sneezed again. "Hey Mal, you weren't petting any animals or anything today were you?"

Mallory turned bright red and turned towards me. "No, why would I do that? I hate dogs; I hope I never see another dog in my life!"

Jessi and I exchanged confused glances again. Mallory's family has a dog, his name is Pow. He and Mallory seemed to get along well; he even had a habit of sporadically humping her leg.

The elevator stopped and Mal and Jessi got out.

"I'll call you if anything comes up," I said before the door closed.

I wheezed and leaned against the wall of the elevator. It was only our second day in Mexico and things were already out of control!


	11. Kristy

After the whole incident with Mallory's chicken-top, we all decided to hit the buffet for lunch. It was good to be bonding with Stace and Claud, usually I get stuck spending time with Mary Anne or Abby. They're just not as…_ fun_ as Stacey and Claudia are. Anyways, we picked up our area on the beach and walked back to the hotel. On the way I wedged myself between the girls and put a palm on each of their bottoms.

"Ahhh, Mexico is great huh guys?" I said, smiling up towards the sun.

"Um, sure Kristy," Stacey said, looking at Claudia uncomfortably.

Oh no! I hoped she didn't think I was trying to come between their friendship. Because I wasn't trying to at _all._ I'm just trying to get cozy!

Sensing the uncomfortable air, Claudia quickly changed the subject. "I hope they have some good stuff for lunch," she said, holding the door open for me and Stace.

"Well if not, we could always just eat out," I said, winking at the two of them.

"Hmm, I don't know the number of any local places," Claudia said walking ahead.

"Claud… Never mind," Stacey said with a sigh as we walked into the dining room.

Once again the grub was spectacular. Stacey just got a salad, but Claudia and I loaded up.

"I wonder where the others are," Stacey said, nibbling on a piece of lettuce.

I took an oyster from my plate, slowly coated it with butter, and then began suckling it from its shell. "Well," I said, wiping the drool and butter from my chin, "They probably stopped somewhere in town for food or something". "Gosh these oysters are delicious!" I said, licking another. "Would you like to taste my oysters Stacey?" I said, nodding towards the pile of oysters on my plate and licking my lips. "You've never had any like these, I know it!"

"Um… No thanks Kristy. Actually I'm not hungry anymore, I'm gonna go upstairs and lay down," Stacey said, quickly getting up from the table and stalking off towards the elevator.

"Damn that's a nice ass," I said, under my breath, watching her walk off.

"Huh?" Claudia piped up from next to me, her mouth full of refried beans.

"I said Mexico's got a lot of nice grass," I said, picking up another oyster. "Hey Claud… Would you like to taste an oyster?"

"No thanks, I'm not really in the mood for sea food," Claud replied, biting into her _carne asada. _

"No it's cool," I said, grabbing the oyster with my teeth. "More for Kristy!"

We ate for a couple more minutes, and soon were rejoined by Stacey, who had Abby with her. They rushed back into the dining room towards our table.

_"They always come back,"_ I thought smugly to myself as they approached us.

"Kristy! You'll never believe what's happened!" Stacey said, sitting down.

"Well, I mean it's not that unbelievable, I knew that you'd give into your lust sooner or later," I said, pushing my chair back from the table. "You in too Abby?"

"What are you talking about?" Abby said giving me a quizzical look.

"Kristy! Dawn's been arrested!" Stacey exclaimed.

"WHAAAT!" I roared, attracting the attention of everyone else in the dining room. "Emergency BSC meeting! Now!"

"Wait, wait," Abby said quickly. "I'll go to the front desk and call Mal and Jessi down, but do we really want Mary Anne to know? I mean with her problems with Logan, and her sunburn, do we really want to add more to the pile?"

Abby was right, Mary Anne wouldn't be much of a help.

"Okay, get Jessi and Mal down here pronto," I told Abby. I pulled my visor out of my beach bag.

"And get me a pen and paper from the front desk!" I yelled after Abby.

I got the waiter to clear our plates away and then started to set up. I took two chairs and stacked them on top of each other. It wasn't as good as my director's chair, but it would have to do. And at least I could still hover over the other BSC members.

Abby returned with pen and paper a couple minutes later. Mal and Jessi joined soon after. I noticed Mal scowling at Stacey, and she didn't look me or Claudia in the eyes. And she was wearing a puce colored turtleneck sweater, which was ridiculous since it was over 100 degrees out.

"Okay, I call this meeting to order," I said, looking around at my friends' worried faces. "Now, before we get to our main order of business, does anyone else have anything to share?"

"I do," Mallory piped up. "Um, to all of you that were at the beach today, I thought your behavior was really rude and inappropriate…"

"Oh Mal, shut up about your stupid chicken boobs already!" Stacey exclaimed in disbelief. "Get over it ok? We've got serious business to attend to!"

"Yeah, really," I said huffily. "Ok, Abby, tell us what happened today".

"Well first she was whining about silk, and then she wandered off into the food area and the next thing I know she's clubbing a guy with a dead chicken!" Abby began, still obviously in disbelief.

Stacey smirked a little and I noticed Jessi stifling a giggle.

"Order!" I snapped, flinging one of my flip flops at Jessi.

"So, the cops came and toted her off," Abby finished, shrugging her shoulders. "I called down to the police station and they said they're holding her in the local jail. If we want to bail her out, it's $5000."

"$5000!" The rest of us all exclaimed in horror. That was A LOT of money, even between the six of us. Even for me, and my step-dad is a millionaire!

"Hmm, okay. Well, how much does each of us have?" I asked, looking around the table. "I've got $300 in cash and some traveler's checks."

"Whoa, whoa, whoaaa," Stacey interrupted. "I'm not spending ALL of my money on my _second_ day in Mexico on _Dawn. _ Really, she put herself into this mess she should get herself out!"

The others nodded and murmured agreements.

"Let's call her mom, or her dad or somebody," Jessi suggested. "Besides, I've only got $200 myself, I doubt we could come up with the money."

"Hmmm," I said, rubbing my chin. "I think I have an idea…."

"Oh God," Abby said, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "The Great Kristy is having an idea!"

"You will cease with talking!" I yelled, throwing my other flip flop at her. It smacked her right in the face, leaving a nasty red mark. Serves her right. How dare she mock me, Kristy Thomas.

"Well, as I was _saying_," I continued, glaring at Abby. "Maybe we _could_ raise the money. And we wouldn't have to sacrifice any of our own!"

"How are we gonna do that?" Claudia asked. She had produced a pack of Ring Dings from out of no where and was diligently snacking on them.

"Fundraisers! What we do best in this club… I mean besides baby-sit," I answered smiling. "There are all types of way for us to make money. Like Claud could charge for art lessons, or you and Stacey could start running a salon out of your room! Jessi, you can give dance lessons… Abby you could start doing stand-up! And Mallory… erm…"

"I can draw caricatures of people! But in mouse form!" Mallory said, smiling excitedly.

"That's the spirit!" I said as I stood up out of my chairs. "Come on guys, we can do anything if we try. We'll have Dawn bailed out in no time!"

The rest of the BSC members stood up, Stacey and Abby exchanged doubtful glances. But inside I could tell they were bursting with excitement.

"Wait Kristy," Stacey said, putting her hands on her round delicate hips. "What are _you_ going to do?"

"Duhh Stacey! I'll help organize you all. I'll make calls, set up appointments, and keep track of the money! _Someone _has to do it!" I replied, throwing my arm around her waist and pulling her close. "Now if you need any extra help, just come and get me. This meeting is adjourned!"

With that, we all dispersed. Operation "Bail Out Dawn" was go!


	12. Author's Note x Dawn

Hmm, well I think its time for a lengthy author's note now that I've been accused of plagiarism. I wouldn't blatantly rip off stories that are featured on the same page as mine, because that would just be idiotic. Mary Anne and Logan having a fight? It happened plenty of times in the books, and they always had issues with Logan trying to balance being in the club, being Mary Anne's boyfriend, and trying to be one of the guys. That's what I drew from. And I find Mary Anne and Logan to be boring characters, so I was trying to do my best to put them in the background.

The mouse thing I also took from the books. Mallory I believe wrote a story about a family of mice. I have been reading "Mallory Pike College Girl", so maybe that's why that was brought to mind first.

I will admit the parts about Mallory's family sending her on the trip are similar, but not at all intentionally. I read BSC books and I wondered why Mallory's parents always claimed to be on a budget, but still managed to pull together cash whenever it involved getting Mallory out of the house. Be it for a vacation or boarding school, the Pikes didn't seem to want her around.

With the silk dress, I almost was going to use fur, but I thought I didn't make sense to have fur being sold in 100 degree+ heat. And I wanted a source that would piss Dawn off into walking away. Because, like Mary Anne and Logan, I also want Dawn out of the picture as much as possible.

I don't really remember what "Dawn in Prison" is about, but I think the direction my story is going is totally different than how I remember that one. I'm not trying to "rip anyone off" at all.

So anyways, here is my next chapter.

_Deeyr Don, _

_We hurd yoo got arestid. Pleez don't worrie, we ar wurking on getting yur bale monie. Yoo knoe how good we ar at razing monie. Weel have yoo out in knoe time! We havant told Marrie An becuz we don't want hur to wuree. Be sahfe, and don't drop the sope! (I don't noe wat that meens, but I herd it in a moovie once). _

_Love, _

_ Clawdeeyah, Kristee, Maloree, Jese, Abbeyee, and Staycee_

It was good to hear from my friends. Even if Claudia had written the letter on the hotel stationary, which obviously wasn't made from recycled paper. Savages. I folded up the paper and stuffed it into my pocket.

Sigh, prison wasn't so bad. Especially for me, as a political prisoner. I was taking my sentence with pride. Unfortunately, I wasn't fitting in with the other prisoners well. I was the only one there with looooooong blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. My cell mate, Manuella was a young Mexican woman with dark hair and dark eyes. I wasn't sure what she was in for, we didn't talk much. My Spanish was pretty limited, and her English was worse.

The meals were also bad. I didn't know the Spanish word for "vegetarian", and the guards didn't seem to care anyways. So, I decided that it would be totally appropriate to go on a hunger strike. Not that I could explain to anyone there why I wasn't eating, but I'm sure when I get out the American Press will be fascinated with my story. I'll be on 20/20, The Today Show, probably get my own book deal.

I tossed my looooooong blonde hair over one shoulder as I sat down to compose a letter to the BSC. I decided to recycle and write it on the back of the letter they had sent me.

_Dear Friends, _

_Don't worry about me, I am handling this prison sentence very maturely. I appreciate you raising money to try and bail me out. I can't get any vegetarian meals here, so I've decided to go on a hunger strike until I get out. I'm sort of hungry now, so if you could hurry up and bail me out that would be great. I'm thankful you didn't tell Mary Anne. Although I love my sister, I know she isn't emotionally stable for this. I think its all the meat and sugar she eats that makes her so moody. In my opinion, it's a scientific fact that vegetarians have better temperaments than carnivores. Prove me wrong girls. _

_Love and Sunshine,_

_ Dawn _


	13. Mallory2

:whispers: I will finish this…. I will finish this…. Trust me. I will… or at least keep adding to it. I'm back and new chapters are coming. Thanks to everyone who supported this in my absence.

_Dear Claire, Margo, Vanessa, Adam, Byron, Jordan, Mom, and Dad,_

_Whoo! I almost used a whole postcard writing your names down! I hope you guys aren't missing me too much. Mexico is so dibble. Today I met a very nice boy and he's going to help me with this little problem I'm having. Nothing to worry about, I've got it all taken care of. _

_Love,_

_Mallory_

This Mexico trip was a disaster. A big stale disaster. I had embarrassed myself in front of Ben, and let me tell you information travels fast at SMS. Kids clucked when they walked by me, flapping their arms and bobbing their heads up and down. I was so mortified I didn't even want to leave my room. But I had to, because I wanted to raise more money than anyone else. If I could get the respect of my BSC friends back, I could slowly begin my climb back up the social ladder at SMS!

I got up early the day after our emergency meeting and got dressed extra dibble. I started with my white tights with the little red hearts on them. I had borrowed a black leotard from Jessi, which I wore over that. And then I put on a pair of green corduroy shots that stopped just above my knee. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, which was pretty difficult because the rubber bands kept breaking and getting caught in my curls. I finally got it on the sixth try though.

I put on my glasses and took a moment to admire myself in the mirror. I looked about 14, a very mature 14. I needed to look mature today for when I set up my caricature stand. The leotard and ponytail made me look dibbly artsy. Finally, I decided to apply some makeup, a little green eyeshadow, and some pink rouge. I puckered up my lips and applied some "Fiesta Red" lipstick and it was all systems go.

I got in the elevator and went up to the older girls' floor. I needed to borrow some art supplies, and I knew Claudia had brought a whole separate suitcase full.

When I got off on their floor I noticed a line of girls coming from out of their room all the way into the hallway.

"What's going on?" I asked as I walked through their open door. Claudia was sitting on the floor organizing something, Abby was lying on her bed with a notepad, and Stacey was standing in front of a girl studying her carefully.

"Stacey's started her own fashion consulting service to make money for you-know-what," Abby said, jotting down notes as she wrote.

"I'm giving makeovers and dating tips for twenty bucks a person," Stacey added, filing through her makeup case. "A lot of the younger girls are already in line… Too bad we're trying to reserve our cash Mallory, I'd help you out."

"Ha," I said, remembering the day before. "Well, I plan to raise more money than anyone with my caricatures. Speaking of which, Claud, may I please borrow some art supplies?"

"Nope, sorry Mal. I'm stealing your idea and setting up my own characters stand," Claudia said, picking up a heavy bag full of art supplies. "I'm gonna need all this stuff."

"You mean caricatures," I said dejectedly. "Well what am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe you guys can work together," Abby suggested. "Like, Claudia can draw pictures of people and you could write stories about them."

Claudia stood in the doorway and stared at me for a moment. "Um… Well… I guess..." she said slowly.

"That's okay," I said, stalking out of the room, pushing past her. "I can think of something on my own!"

I rode the elevator down to the lobby. "Boy," I sighed. "Being eleven sure is trial sometimes."

I decided to go on a walk hoping that I could get some money making ideas on the way. After about an hour of walking I was still without and idea, and thirsty.

I stopped at a restaurant to get a soda. "Sprite, por favor," I said to the waiter, sitting down at one of the tables outside. I closed my eyes and rested my chin on the edge of the table while I waited.

"_Hmm, maybe I could get a job at a restaurant,"_ I thought. I had seen some kids my age and younger working at places.

"Esta bien?" I heard a voice ask. I opened my eyes and looked up to see a figure standing over me. A _male _figure.

"Um, yeah, er, si," I answered, straightening my glasses.

"Oh, you speak English?" The boy said, sitting down.

"Yes," I answered uncomfortably. I looked around nervously to make sure no one I knew was around. Ben Hobart was still my sort-of-boyfriend, I didn't want people to think I was cheating on him.

"My name is Julio," the boy said in accented English. He was about 5'6 and thin. He had dark curly hair and deep brown eyes. He wasn't bad looking, but I did have a sort-of-boyfriend. And Julio looked to be about _fifteen_ years old, which is way too old for me. That's practically a man!

"My name is Mallory," I answered cautiously.

"Hola Mallory," he replied smiling. "Que pasa? You looked sad, no?"

"Well…. I'm here on a class trip," I began as my soda arrived.

"Oh really, where do you come from?" Julio interrupted.

"Connecticut," I answered. "Stoneybrook, Connecticut."

"I have never heard of that place," Julio said, his dark eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, it's near Stamford," I offered, taking a sip of my Sprite.

"Oh," Julio replied. "So, where are all of your friends?"

"Probably somewhere being jerks," I blurted out. With some prodding and a couple more sodas I had explained the events of our trip. Mary Anne's sunburn… Dawn's prison sentence… I didn't tell him the whole story about the chicken cutlets though.

"Wow, this sounds heavy," Julio replied as I finished the tale of this totally stale trip.

"Yeah, now we have to raise _$5000_ to bail our friend out. The only problem is, I don't know any good ways to make money!" I said with a sigh.

"Well I could help you," Julio said with a smile. "I work for a courier service and we're always looking for new people."

"Really?" I asked in shock. "How much would I get paid?"

"Well, we've got a pretty big job we need done. It could be about $500 American dollars if you get it done."

_"This is perfect!" _I thought to myself. I could raise more money than any of the babysitters!

"Where do I sign up?" I asked Julio excitedly.

"Come with me, it is close by," he answered, getting up from his chair.

I left a couple dollars on the table to pay for my sodas and left with Julio. We got on a bus that took us out of the city.

"What is your family like?" Julio asked as we rode out of town.

"Oh, well I have seven brothers and sisters," I said, knowing he would be impressed.

"Wow," he replied raising his eyebrows. "Your family must be very wealthy to have so many children."

"No, my father is a lawyer, but he doesn't make that much money," I said frowning a little. "I mean, there almost wasn't enough money to send me on my last trip to Europe! But my parents were nice enough to sell our living room furniture so I could go."

"Wow," Julio said with a smile. "What is… living room?"

I spent the rest of the trip trying to explain to Julio what a living room was. But then I also had to explain what a rec room was. And I think I really blew his mind when I told him my house had three levels. It was good to know that I, Mallory Pike could educate people around the world.

We got off the bus in a run down looking neighborhood. The houses were all as big as the Rodowsky's tool shed. We walked down the dirt road until we got to a small shed-house with a bunch of kids Julio's age hanging around out front. They greeted him warmly as we walked up to the front door, and stared at me quizzically. I stood up as tall as possible and pursed my lips together tightly, trying to look as mature as possible, like one of the models in Mary Anne's _Teen Steam _magazines.

I gingerly followed Julio into the smoke filled house. The windows on the house had all been boarded up, and the only light in the room came from a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"Julio!" an older man greeted us. "Que pasa?"

Julio answered in quick Spanish. I looked up and smiled when he motioned to me and mentioned my name. He and the older man went back and forth for a few minutes, I could really understand what they were talking about.

I looked around the room carefully while they talked. There were a few scantily clad women leaning against the walls looking me up and down. The all seemed to be really tired for some reason.

The older man Julio had been talking to disappeared into another room.

"He wants to hire you!" Julio said, smiling at me. "But he wants to send you out on like a test job first. Don't worry, you'll get paid for it."

"How dibble!" I answered with a squeal. "But um, why is it so dark in here? And what are all these sleepy women doing here?"

Julio looked around the room. "Oh… well, I'll put it this way. Taco, that man I was just talking to, he's like… A doctor. And this place is like his hospital. And we all deliver his medicines. You understand?"

"Oh I see," I said nodding knowingly. "I know a doctor back home in Stoneybrook. I baby-sit for her daughter sometimes."

"That's great!" Julio said, smiling again. "Well now it's like you get to be the doctor."

"_Wow",_ I thought to myself. First education and now healthcare. I was on my way to a humanitarian award for all the great things I was doing in Mexico. This was way better than some stale makeover service!

Taco returned from the other room with a small black plastic bag. Julio took it, nodded and led me out of the house.

"Okay," he said, handing me the bag. "This needs to be in Mexico city by sundown tomorrow. The address is on piece of paper in bag, don't open it unless you are alone. Deliver, get money and come back. Theres money for the train in there. Tomorrow morning, swallow the little sacks and when you get halfway to destination, theres some chocolate for you to eat. It will help you."

"Si," I said uncertainly. "But um, if I swallow the package, how will it get delivered?"

"Trust me, okay?" Julio said smiling.

This was dibbly exciting. Julio gave me the bag and we said our goodbyes. I took the bag and shoved it into the large pocket of my _Saddle Club_ backpack. It would be safe there. Within moments I was back on the bus to Mexico City.

I sat in the back row away from everyone else. I was dying to take a peek into the bag. I unzipped my backpack slooowly, and opened up the bag. I felt just like a secret agent or Encyclopedia Brown or something.

First I saw the piece of paper, it had pretty good directions of where to get off, so I wasn't worried. I looked at the other contents of the bag. I couldn't really figure out what it was, just a bunch of tightly wrapped plastic packages. A lot to swallow though, I'd better skip dinner tonight. It was worth it though; I'd show everybody up when I came back with $500!


	14. Claudia2

_Deer Rus, Ant Peechez, and Linn,_

_Hi Who ar yew? I am fyine. I am in Meksikow! It is so beyooteeful!. You gize wuld like tha beech. I hope its naught tew cold in Stoniebrooke for yew gize! Maybee I will bring yoo baq sum sand. Rite now the BSC is triang to raze som monee for a speshul cawz. I decyded to help by selling charictuars. Thoz ar peectures of peepul that ar funnee. In case yoo didant nowe. I miss yoo! _

_Kisses,_

_ Clawdeeyah _

The next morning I got up extra early to set up my caricatures stand. First I scanned my suitcases for an outfit that was extra exotic, artistic, and mature. After a brief deliberation I decided to go for a modified beatnik look. I put on a black bikini top, and some loose fitting black silk pants. Around my waist I tied a long black scarf (borrowed from Stacey), and to my top I pinned a button with a picture of Andy Warhol on it. I put a few thin braids into my long black hair, and then plopped a beret on my head. I put on dark red lipstick, and drew a dark mole by the right corner of my upper lip. Lastly I borrowed a pair of black 5 inch stiletto heels from Stacey, completing my look. I was one hip cat.

"Wow Claud, great outfit!" Stacey exclaimed as I strutted out of the bathroom. Stacey had to decided to do makeovers and fashion consulting to help raise money. Her current client was a chubby 6th grader named Kristina.

"Well my first bit of advice for you would be that you should lose about 40 pounds," I overheard Stacey telling Kristina. Jeez.

Ignoring them I pulled a piece of poster board out of one of my bags to make a sign for my stand.

"Hmmm," I thought for a moment about how it should look. I glanced over at Stacey and Kristina and had a great idea.

Across the top of the poster board I scrawled the words "Kariktures by Clawdeeyah Keeshy, famus Amairikan Ardist". The "famous American artist" part was a bit of a lie, but I had been in many art shows, and the money was for a good cause. Under the words I sketched a picture of Stacey and Kristina. I drew Kristina sitting in the chair, her round facial features prominent and glowing. Then I put Stacey standing over her, with a big 100 watt smile, running a comb through Kristina's hair. It looked super dibble.

"Hey, check it out!" I said, showing them my work.

"Wow," they both said smiling.

"It looks really nice," Kristina said. "The spelling is really creative too."

"Huh?" I asked, looking at my work. I thought I had done a good job on the wording.

I saw Stacey slap Kristina on the side of the head and then smile at me. "She doesn't know what she's talking about Claud. She is only in the 6th Grade".

"Oh right," I said, nodding knowingly. 6th Graders could be pretty immature. "Well, I'm off," I grabbed my bag of supplies, my easel and my poster and headed out the door.

I decided to set up outside on the sidewalk of our hotel. It was on a pretty busy street, and there would probably be a lot of students around. I taped my sign to the wall behind me and then set up my easel and sketch pad. I had also brought down my pastels, colored pencils, and my really expensive drawing pens. I sat down on one of two chairs I had taken from the lobby of the hotel and munched on a Kit Kat bar while I waited for my first customer.

"Hey Claudia," I heard a familiar voice say from my left. I turned to see my old boyfriend Trevor Sandbourne standing there with Alan Gray, another boy I had dated, and Austin Bentley, who I had also dated.

"Hey guys, want a cariture?" I asked eagerly. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and winked at the three of them. "Its for a good cause".

"Well sure!" Austin said, sitting in the other chair I had brought. "How much?"

"How about, $20 for all three of you?" I asked. It seemed like a fair price.

"$20!" Alan groaned. "C'mon Claud, don't we get an ex-boyfriend rate of something?"

"C'mon guys, its for a good cause," Trevor said, moving closer to me. "And its _Claud. _You look really pretty today Claudia," Trevor said, running his fingers through my hair.

"Yeah thanks," I said, scooting my chair away. Trevor was really cute but he was kind of creepy. Before we started dating he used to call me while I was babysitting and not say anything. He would just breathe into the receiver! It was so _stale _and really weird. We started dating after that, but I guess I wasn't as attractive to him when he didn't have to stalk me anymore. But sometimes I would still catch him sniffing my dirty gym clothes or digging through the garbage cans outside of my house. It was kind of adorable.

Just then Mark Jaffe, another one of my ex-boyfriends strolled up. "Hey guys, what's going on?" he asked eying the group.

"Well it looks like Claudia is painting a portrait of every guy at SMS she's been to first base with," Alan joked.

"You only got to first base?" Mark scoffed, making Alan's face turn bright red. I could sense things were about to get a little heated so I decided to take charge.

"Okay guys, everyone pose, this one is on the house!" I said picking up a couple of my pens. I thought for a couple seconds before coming up with a brilliant concept for the drawing.

After 15 minutes I was finished. "Voila!" I said as I turned my easel towards the boys. I had drawn myself in a long evening gown, looking glamorous. I drew each boy in a tux looking at me hopefully as I clutched a rose in my hands, smiling coyly. It was Claudia's _The Bachelorette_!

"Funny Claud," Austin said sarcastically as he stood up. The rest of the boys soon followed, glaring at me disgusted and walking away. How _stale._ I took the drawing and taped it to the wall behind me next to my sign. Then I waited.

And waited.

And…. waited.

After about an hour someone finally approached me. "Hey we'll take a caricature," a young couple said approaching me.

"Oh, are you American?" I asked them. They didn't have accents like everyone else around.

"Yes, yes. We're from Pennsylvania. We've been doing some missionary work here," the woman answered. She looked about 25, had long straight brown hair like Mary Anne used to, and her face and arms were covered in brown freckles.

"Missionary work?" I said, rubbing my chin. "Sounds interesting. I'm American too, well Japanese American. In case you couldn't tell by my loooong black hair and exotically beautiful looks."

"Mmmhmm," the man said sitting down in one of the chairs. "Well that sounds interesting. I'm Jeb and this is Laura," he said, nodding towards the brown haired girl. Jeb was cute. He had dark curly hair and ice blue eyes. He was about 5'9 and thin. And he had _dimples. _I flipped my looonng black hair over one shoulder and winked at him.

"Well, _Jeb _its $10 for a caricature. It's for a good cause".

"Okay, I think we could sacrifice $10 for charity," Jeb said, relaxing in his seat.

"Great! Don't worry I already have a great idea for your picture," I said as I began sketching the two of them. "You know, Laura is such a pretty name. I know a baby named Laura, Laura Perkins. She's sooo cute. She has two sisters, Gabbie and Maryiah."

"Oh that's nice," Laura said, smiling. "I love children."

"Me too!" I said enthusiastically. "I'm apart of a babysitting club back in Connecticut. We sit for all kinds of kids. My favorites are the Newtons, Jamie and Lucy. Lucy is another baby. Soo cute." I went on to tell Jeb and Laura about The Pikes, the Rodowskys, and the Barrett/DeWitts.

After about 20 minutes I was finished. "Okay, are you ready?" I asked them, smiling excitedly. I had worked really hard on this one, and hopefully they'd pay extra for my efforts. I turned my drawing towards Jeb and Laura and watched their pleasant smiling faces twist with disgust.

"What in the world!" Jeb said, his mouth agape in disbelief.

"Oh my!" Laura gasped, turning away and covering her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, shocked. "I thought I did a really good job on your freckles Laura."

"Why did you draw us…. Like that!" Jeb asked, shaking his head from side to side.

"Duhhh, you said you're here doing missionary work," I said, rolling my eyes.

"We're doing the Lord's work, not… _fornicating_," Laura said defensively.

I still didn't understand. What the heck is fornicating? I had simply drawn Jeb laying on top of Laura, each of them flushed and sweaty. Doing the missionary, just like I had read about in Stacey's October issue of _Cosmo. _

"You said missionary, I drew missionary," I said forcibly. "Pay up."

"A fool like you probably needs this money more than we do," Jeb said, throwing a $10 bill at me. With that, he and Laura stormed off, shaking their heads and glaring back at me.

At this rate, Dawn would be 80 by the time I made my share of her bail money.


End file.
